Kylie Minogue rose to prominence in the late 1980s as a result of her role in the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing her career as a pop singer and recording artist, as well as continuing her acting career.

Signed to a contract by British songwriters and
producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman, she achieved a string of hit records throughout the world, but her popularity began to decline
by the early 1990s, leading her to part
company from Stock, Aitken & Waterman in 1992.

For several years she attempted to establish
herself as an independent performer and songwriter
whilst signed to the deConstruction label—the
credible dance offshoot label of BMG—distancing
herself from her earlier work. Her projects
were widely publicised, but despite one
big and much-acclaimed hit single Confide In Me,
followed by a number of further minor hits,
her albums failed to attract a substantial
audience. Combined with serious problems at her label,
the results were the lowest sales of her career.

In 2000, Minogue returned to popularity
as a dance/pop music artist and became well-known
for her provocative music videos and expensively
mounted stage shows. Minogue has
established one of the longest and
most successful careers as a performer
in contemporary pop music, and in Europe and Australia
has become one of her generation's
most recognisable celebrities and sex symbols.
In Australia, after being dismissed early in
her career by many critics, she has been acclaimed
for her achievements; she holds the record for
the highest concert ticket sales for a female performer,
and has placed nine singles at
number one on the
Australian ARIA Singles Chart.

On May 17, 2005, it was reported that Minogue had been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and would receive medical treatment in
Melbourne. The remainder of her
Showgirl, The Greatest Hits world tour was postponed
and she withdrew from participating at the
Glastonbury Festival.

The announcement
of Minogue's cancer diagnosis
resulted in a brief but intense period of media coverage,
particularly in Australia where it was the
lead news story of the day. Messages of support flooded
her Ultimate Kylie website, where her legion of fans
expressed their support. As media and fans began to
congregate outside the Minogue residence in Melbourne,
the Victorian Premier Steve Bracks
stated to the international media, that any disruption to
the Minogue family's rights as Australians
would not be tolerated. Minogue underwent surgery
on May 21. Friends such as Olivia Newton-John,
herself a survivor of breast cancer, urged the
media and fans to respect Minogue's privacy.
However, it was only after it was announced
that the surgery had been successful that the
intense scrutiny of the situation began to diminish.
In the days following her surgery, it was
reported that Minogue had commenced radiotherapy
as part of her treatment regimen.

Minogue made a public 'thank you' statement,
and urged fans 'not to worry'. She later added that
further treatment was to be pursued in Europe.
On July 8, 2005, she made her first public appearance
since her surgery, when she visited a children's
cancer ward at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. She is
currently recovering in both Paris and the South of France.

In November 2005 Minogue's tour management in
Australia announced she will continue her
Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour in late 2006,
but added this version would be slightly updated
and altered from the original as a 'thank you' for her fans' patience.

It was announced in the Daily Record
on 24 December 2005 by close friend Julien Macdonald
that Minogue had been give the all-clear from breast cancer.